I’m an erotic romance writer and a yogi.

A yogi is someone who practices yoga.

Yoga and an erotic romance novel – how does that work? Simple. It was through the calming meditation at the end of class that broke the block that was keeping me from finishing What Happens in Bangkok.

I adore yoga. I go to a minimum of 3 classes a week. I’d go to more, but it’s a very long drive into the yoga studio. I do Hatha, Yin, Restorative and the occasional Power yoga class.

Yoga is great for your body and your mind. It is especially beneficial to writers as we spend a large amount of time sitting hunched over our laptops.

Hatha and Power yoga are more physical. Restorative is bliss and Yin is a head game. Yin is my favourite. Partly because of the incredible personality of the teacher and partly because I recognize how good it is for me.

In Yin, you hold a posture for about 5 minutes. IF you can. That’s what’s so important. You have to listen to your body. Most days I can hold sleeping pigeon for longer than 5 minutes. I could probably fall asleep in it. Then there is the odd day when after a minute, my mind is screaming, “This hurts. Get out. Lay down.”

That’s the head game. Am I just being lazy and don’t want to do the work? Or is something really hurting? New people in Yin class fidget and distract everyone else. They don’t get it and they can’t relax. Yin isn’t physical. It isn’t like running a marathon or doing a hundred push ups, but quite often my body feels like it’s worked that hard.

So when my body/mind is protesting, I try talking to myself, inhale deep calming breaths and try to relax the sore spot. If that doesn’t work, I concede and relax into savasana until the teacher tells us the next pose.

A while back, I damaged my knee. I sprained, strained every ligament and tendon and ripped the meniscus. Did it in a belly dance performance, but that’s another post. It has taken months of physiotherapy and yoga to get back to where I was before I hurt myself.

I let my physiotherapist know, the goal was to be able to get down into sleeping pigeon and hold it for 5 minutes and not be cringing in agony. And I am there.

I know there will still be days when the knee protests and I can deal, but I credit my physiotherapist and my yoga teachers for getting me out of pain and almost completely back to full recovery.

You don’t have to be flexible. You don’t have to be super thin. Yoga is for everyone. Everybody type. Don’t say – I’ll drop 10 pounds and then join. Go find a beginner class. If it doesn’t work for you, go find another studio. At some point, you will click with the teacher – it’s like a bond. And once you are going to yoga and feeling yourself come alive and opening up then you will understand how fabulous this is for you.

Photo – me on vacation. Took my mat to Florida and did class on the deck. This is sleeping pigeon. The damaged knee is the bent one.

There is another connection between yoga and What Happens in Bangkok—Erika and Darien do a class together. So yoga is not only part of my life, but my characters’ as well.

What Happens in Bangkok

To save Darien’s life his brother asks, “Can you walk in high heels?”

Erika Bailey, owner/manager of a drag queen club in Bangkok, Thailand has happily settled into all aspects of her new life, except for her lack of a love life. When a new diva auditions, Erika is bewildered over her instant attraction to the blond God, Apollo.

Darien Scott is on vacation after a world tour and mistakenly figures the safest place to be is at The Black Dragon with the head of a Triad. When the club is hit, Darien is the only person to get out alive. Now   he’s running from the police and a Triad. Mistake number 1.

Disguised as a drag queen, he’s hired by Erika, but falls hard for his new boss, then struggles with not coming clean with her. Mistake number 2.

Can he fix his mistakes and find a life filled with love or is he headed straight for mistake number 3?

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5 Stars—Really must read this one…., (1 line review)

“I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the chemistry between Darien and Erika was so hot that I thought my kindle would melt!”

Excerpt

Scene set: Erika is doing a strip for Darien – they are both in the shower. You have to read the book to find out why – lol

Erika straightened, reached up and slid off her right bra strap. Darien’s fingers ached to peel down the left strap. She lowered it to the side, releasing the front clasp. Pulling it open, she flipped it off and let it drop to the floor. Darien hissed. Having forgotten about the shower, he tilted his head back and sputtered when the water poured onto his face. He shook his head and blinked, then groaned. She’d turned, facing him, but had crossed her arms and covered her breasts with her hands.

That was wrong. It was his hands that needed to feel her nipples pebble against his palms. He shifted to move, but caught himself. He didn’t want to break the spell. WTF? Who was he kidding? He wanted to shatter the spell, grab Erika, and back her up against the shower wall, drowning her in kisses. After nibbling his way up her thigh, he craved burying himself deep inside her and when both had screamed out a release, he wanted to do it all over again.